Thunderstorm
by RebelWriter6561
Summary: Worth wakes up in the middle of a thunderstorm to find an...unexpected visitor. ConWorth fluff.
1. Chapter 1

~*~Creative Title is Creative *facepalm*  
>So, while the source of my inspiration is obvious, I didn't <em>actually<em> write this during a thunderstorm, oh no. The thunderstorm happened afterwards. Pretty cool.  
>And I'm sure this concept has already been abused to death, <em>but hey<em>, that's never stopped me before!  
>And there's a lot of stupid implications about Worth's life as a kid in Australia, because it's a stupid idea that <em>will not leave my head<em>. It's a rabid little plotbunny that may one day evolve into an actual fic. Who knows?  
>Musical Muse: Greed Day<br>Warnings: Bad words, duh.  
>Disclaimer: I'm not Tessa Stone, to whom I wish the best of luck, and hope whatever shit is happening in her life goes away, for her sake and for the fans.<p>

~*~Thunderstorm~*~

Worth was used to being woken up in unusual –usually unpleasant –ways. Cops beating down his door, screaming patients who woke to find themselves in his office without anyone there, Hanna and his dead friends clamoring for his help…to say he was used to it was an understatement.

But today, it was just a run-of-the-mill thunderstorm that woke him…a rather severe one, but that really wasn't too far out of the ordinary for this time of year.

Lightning lit the sky. Worth laid still and counted under his breath until thunder crashed, shaking his tiny apartment. It was close. Half awake, he faintly remembered lying counting in a different bed, in a different country, in a different life…smelling the desert soak in the rain, wondering about the critters getting wet, anticipation about the life that always flourishes after the storm, praying there would be puddles in the morning…

Worth sat up straight on a ratty mattress on the floor of his room. The room smelled moldy, and he imagined water seeping into his office below him, drowning the cockroaches. This wasn't Australia; not dusty and bright like he remembered, but too grimy and gloomy. So different. When he really stopped to think about it, it was no wonder that Conrad hated it here.

Well…Connie. Now there was a thought. This was the first storm of the year (and a hellava doozie too) and the first since his turning into a vampire. And for a member of the nocturnal society –of which Worth was a card-carrying member –there was nothing more annoying as fuck than being woken up at what was considered three in the morning by a thunderstorm.

He must be pissed. Worth grinned and reached for his shitty little cell phone. Since they were both likely awake, Worth saw no reason why he couldn't call and annoy the silly little fag.

As the phone rang, Worth lit a cigarette and stared out the window at the downpour. Rain was bad for business. Gang-bangers and prostitutes –his "normal" clientele –didn't like doing their business in the rain. They would stay indoors and beat each other up, and who came to the doctor's with just a bruise? Worth smirked as he thought of some people who would: Connie, Connie's mother, hypochondriacs…

Why was it taking the fag so long to answer?

And of course, rain meant that certain people couldn't leave their apartments and do stupid things because their partners couldn't handle being wet. Alleluia. Dealing with Hanna was both a blessing and a curse. He brought in the unusual types of people that paid big, but sometimes dealing with all that was a bit much.

Was Connie ignoring him? He must be stupider than Worth thought if he thought that would work. "God damnit ya stupid piss pick up yer fuckin phone." Worth growled in annoyance.

"…W-worth?"

That was not his cell phone talking to him. That couldn't be his cell phone, because it was still ringing in his ear. And the voice came from somewhere in the room with him. What the fuck...?

Worth silenced the machine and looked around his room, even though he knew it was stupid; it was bright in here, despite the rain, and there was no faggot sitting in the rickety wooden chair heaped with his clothes or resting on the grimy mattress next to him. So where the fuck was the noise coming from…

Worth looked up, and told himself that he wasn't surprised when he saw two beady little eyes staring at him from the farthest corner. No, he was not surprised when lightning illuminated the room and shown him that batty boy had flown across town in the rain to lodge himself in the moldering corner of his room. Nope, not at all.

"What the fuck are you _doin?_" Worth snapped as he pushed himself to his feet. The cold and damp of the room hit him with a shiver, and he regretted wearing just his boxers and wife-beater to bed. But he wasn't expecting a storm and fucking company, damnit! He stumbled forward regardless, using the cigarette clenched in his hand to illustrate his point. "Of all the stupid things to do and the places to go, what the fuck are ya doin 'ere?"

Worth stopped his rant when he finally got close enough to Conrad to see his little batty face. The expression in those red eyes was one that he had seen far too often in his youth. An animal, frightened out of its mind, trembling, uncomfortable, scared. He flinched at every bolt of lightning and every clap of thunder, waiting for what his instincts told him was an attack about to happen. No matter how much humanity Conrad had managed to hang on to, he lost it all when he transformed and went flying in the rain. Pure animalistic terror was all he knew now. It was a wonder he had even remembered Worth's name, and how to get to his clinic.

Worth moved slowly now, trying not to spook him. Animals had attacked him before when he had just been trying to help them, and the extra bonus of Conrad being a vampire made him extra cautious. He stubbed his cig out as he pulled his chair around, knocking questionably clean clothes to the floor. Moving the chair into position under the bat, Worth took a moment to observe his friend's predicament.

Conrad was large for a bat, and red. Not the ginger red of the flying foxes back home, but blood red, except for the patch of black on top. Worth wondered again why some things, like hair and _glasses for fucks sake_ survived the change into bat form. _That _was the kind of magic that just didn't make sense. He was soaking wet, and trembling, and was watching him the way that scared creatures did, like they weren't sure you were going to hurt them more or help out. Logic and instinct deemed the former, but some animals were willing to trust. Worth hoped Conrad was one of them.

Worth slowly climbed onto the chair and, even more slowly, straightened his spine so that he was almost face to face with Conrad. The little bat stared back at him. Worth waited, listening to the storm raging behind him, knowing that this was something he couldn't rush. That could mean losing a finger or two.

Before he was even considering moving, Conrad flinched at some thunder, and seemed to snap out of whatever fearful fit had taken over him. Worth waited while a little sanity crept back into his blinking gaze. He stared at Worth, and actually seemed to recognize him now. He didn't stop trembling though, and Worth had a feeling that it wasn't just the cold and wet that made him shake. "W-worth?" he squeaked, and his voice was high with fear, not just littler vocal cords.

Worth carefully kept his face blank and his voice even. "Heya Connie watcha doin up there?" he asked as he carefully stretched a hand forward. Just because he was talking again didn't mean Worth trusted him to behave himself. This was Conrad after all; who knew what he would do when he was freaked out?

Conrad was blinking at him, panting high and light. "I…I g-got s-s-scared." He whispered out. Worth nodded encouragingly as he brought his hand level to Conrad's little form, but kept his distance. "I-i-it-it was loud and-and scary and all I could think was about g-g-getting away a-a-a-and…" Conrad broke off with a gasp that sounded suspiciously like a sob when Worth's (comparatively) large hand closed around him. Worth hadn't really listened to his stumbling words, and instead had focused his efforts in bringing his hand closer to Conrad while he was distracted. Worth hesitated, his hand loose around Conrad's pudgy body, as he waited for the vampire's next move.

Conrad tensed, a terrified shudder passing through his body before it went limp. He closed his eyes in what looked like defeat. It didn't really matter; now Worth could proceed knowing that Connie wasn't going to freak out at him. Worth lifted his other and carefully uncurled Conrad's claws from the pipe he was hanging onto. Conrad continued to be compliant as Worth stepped down from the chair, bringing his arms in close to he could really examine him. The trembling hadn't completely stopped, and he was absolutely soaked. Worth felt each shuddering breath, and guessed that if he had a pulse, it would be racing.

Worth carefully cradled Conrad close to his chest with one hand as he reached down, searching for something clean-ish to wrap him in. His hand touched a t-shirt, and he used it to wrap and rub at Conrad as he made his way back to his mattress.

Conrad seemed to fall into a trance –it was either that or some sort of shock –as Worth dried him. That was either a good thing or bad. He was lying loose in Worth's hands, his eyes half shutting. He still jumped at every clap of thunder, but at least he wasn't shivering.

"So," Worth said conversationally, as though there was nothing weird about drying a bat at 3:30 in the afternoon, "ya decided to come see yer dear darlin doctor in the middle of a thunderstorm. Interestin choice." A normal Conrad reaction would be to deny any implication that he had come _for _Worth, and a jab at his questionable medical occupation. Conbat just made a small nose and nosed into his hand when he brought it up to test the dryness of his fur. Worth rolled his eyes and examined his work. Conrad was definitely dry, and a bit rumpled, but still had a fearful look to his eye and a tenseness in his body that wouldn't go away. Worth was now officially out of ideas.

"So watcher plan now?" he growled as he reached for another cigarette. Conrad didn't move or answer, just sat in his lap staring at him like he should know the answer. Worth shrugged and decided that if Conrad wasn't in the objecting mood, then he might as well push his luck. He scooped up the little ball of fluff and placed it on his pillow, reclining next to him as he continued to smoke. It was unavoidable, really, that Conrad would have to stay here. He couldn't fly back through the storm, and didn't seem to be in the right shape for walking. Besides, he had risked life and wing to get here. He might as well stay.

Worth finished his cigarette and put it out, falling back into bed with a groan. Damn he was tired. Early "morning" animal taming really took it out of you. Worth rolled onto his side, facing away from Conrad, and closed his eyes. He was already ignoring the thunder and lightning, and forgetting about the bat behind him and not thinking about what waking up would bring.

A loud clash of thunder shook him from the state of almost asleep he had just slipped into, and the set of claws latching into his shoulder blade added to the growing unpleasantness. Worth reached a hand around and grabbed Conrad, not being nearly as gentle this time. "Wha' the fuck's yer problem?" he snapped. He watched as Conrad squirmed against the cage of his fingers, not looking at him. Not looking at anything really; his eyes were clamped tightly shut.

Worth loosened his grip, dropping the bat on his bed. He watched with interest as Conrad scrambled across his bed sheets to where his neck met his chest. He didn't move, didn't even breathe, as Conrad scrunched himself into a little ball and rested his big-eared head against his throat. Worth brought his hand up again, lightly covering the still-slightly-shaking body. Conrad made a content noise and finally relaxed entirely.

Well…fuck. Worth closed his eyes, unable to do anything more other than wondering if Conrad might take a bite out of him in his sleep.

~*~ Second part comes up later. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

~*~ Gaww the response I got from you guys was _awesome_! Thanks a bundle for reviewing.  
>Sadly, there's not gonna be more Conbat in this fic (or will there be? Read the stuff at the end) but don't run away yet! I tried really hard to make up for it, so I hope it's still good.<br>And yes, there are some more of my thoughts/questions about vampires and how they work, and if they don't fit with what you think feel free to ignore them. It's just my stupid brain asking too many questions again.  
>Musical Muse: More Green Day<br>Warning: Swearing, some sexual-ish content, all that good stuff  
>Disclaimer: Not Tessa, not mine. That's depressing.<p>

~*~ Thunderstorm Chapter 2 ~*~

Waking up at his usual time was a bit better when he could wake up on his own terms; coming to slowly while listening to the pleasant sound of falling rain. And it was a hell of a lot nicer when there was someone else there with him.

Worth smiled down at Conrad. It wasn't a nice smile.

Sometime earlier that day, the storm had died down, turning into the type of constant rainfall that would last all night. Presumably after the thunder and lightning calmed down, Conrad had changed back into his human form, apparently not needing to be awake in order to arrange himself around Worth's body and get comfortable. Worth hadn't needed waking either, even though Conrad's glasses were now pressing uncomfortably against his skin.

So yes, there was a sleeping vampire in his bed, cuddling quite close with his face still in Worth's neck. A sleeping vampire that was also absent a few pieces of clothing. Worth really couldn't imagine a better way to wake up.

But he wasn't exactly in a hurry to rouse Conrad. There was no doubt that he was going to be _pretty pissed_ when he woke up, and Worth didn't like how close to his jugular he currently was. He didn't think Connie would have the balls to off him or do any serious damage but…better safe than sorry as far as his neck was concerned.

And besides, it was _nice_, in a kinda fucked-up way, to just lay there with someone else. It was something that Worth hadn't experienced in a _very _long time. Not that he was a cuddly-feely type of guy, of course not. It's just that humans have needs, and contact and connections were part of those needs.

And cuddling with what was technically a dead body apparently solved some of those needs.

A part of his mind, the one that med school had trained to notice minute details, brought his attention to the fact that Conrad wasn't breathing. He'd seen him breathing when he was awake, so he could only conclude that Conrad was forcing himself to breathe. When he was unconscious, he would stop because he wasn't awake to control it. That was just the stupid sort of thing that Conrad would do to himself, even when he didn't need to. Probably to feel alive or some other equally sappy reason.

Another thing he realized was that where Connie's skin was touching his, it felt like normal body temperature, but areas without contact were cold. Not dead-cold, but colder than the surrounding air. He had warmed up through Worth's residual body heat, but how would the heat spread without a circulatory system? That was the sort of question that made Worth want to pull out a scalpel and do a little vampire dissection and inspection.

But he resisted the urge (barely) and rubbed a hand over Conrad's shoulder, thinking curious medical thoughts. What mix of magic and biological (necro-logical?) science kept vampires "alive" and moving? What was so special about blood that it was what was needed to keep vampires running? Would needles be able to pierce the skin and draw blood, and what would the blood be like after running through a vampire's system? Could vampires absorb other things through blood, like drugs or alcohol? The last thought made Worth grin at the thought of future experiments.

Conrad exhaled against his neck, and Worth knew he was waking up. He wondered if Conrad would be hungry; and if he was, would he be willing to get breakfast out of Worth? After he cooled down of course.

And how would that feel, getting bitten first thing in the "morning?" Unpleasant for most, but Worth hadn't counted himself in with the general majority for years. He just might enjoy it.

One breath, two. Worth watched Conrad's face twist as he recognized a foreign-yet-familiar smell. Another breath, and another, and then…

Red eyes opened, blinked, and slowly trailed up to look Worth in the face. Worth's grin grew wider as Conrad's eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock.

"Morning batty-boy!" Worth greeted him cheerfully. "How are you this fine morning?"

Conrad made a strangled little scream and shoved himself away from Worth, twisting and falling off the mattress with the sheets tangled around him. Worth laughed himself sick as Conrad lay stammering on the floor, obviously unable to accept that he was naked in Worth's room, even after sleeping there all day. His face was purely priceless.

"W-wha…What the hell am I doing _here_!" Conrad yelped, his voice going up at the end in a squeak like he made as a bat.

Worth kept the sinister little grin on his face. He enjoyed seeing Conrad's discomfort. Completely at ease, like there were panicking naked men in his room all the time, he picked up his pack and shook out a cigarette. "You mean ya don't remember? That's strange; I thought you were enjoying yerself." He teased easily, enjoying how Conrad's eyes widened and a look of panic settled on his face as he remembered the previous morning.

But apparently he wasn't remembering the same thing Worth was.

"Oh God. We…we didn't…do _anything_…did we?" Conrad breathlessly questioned, nervousness making his voice high. Worth's eyebrows twitched in surprise, but otherwise his face remained the same.

To say he was taken aback was an understatement. Did Connie really think they might have had sex? Where the hell had that come from? Why was he so quick to jump to that conclusion, without any prior provocation? Was it just that he didn't remember the previous day well enough to draw any other conclusion about what happened? Worth stowed that knowledge away, and continued to leer down at Conrad. Hey, if the fag liked thinking about him and sex, who was he to stop him?

"Well, I was referring to the thunderstorm, but now that you mentioned it, ya seemed to like the cuddlin." He muttered around his cigarette as he brought his lighter's flame up to ignite it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something like relief pass across Conrad's face, then maybe a little regret (he would definitely have to look into Conrad's sexual fantasies on a later date), then the annoyed and angry face he always wore around Worth landed on his face and stayed there.

"I don't remember what the hell you're talking about, but I certainly didn't _cuddle _you –" he paused to dramatically shudder at the thought "–but whatever it was, it won't happen again!" Worth stared at him evenly, not even acknowledging how stupid the last promise was.

Because if there was one thing Worth was good at, it was finding other people's buttons and pushing them. If Conrad harbored a fear of thunderstorms and some sort of sexual appetite towards Worth –no matter how small –, he had every intention of exploiting them on a later date.

Maybe it would be a bit cruel to use Conrad's weaknesses against him. It would feel almost like cheating. But, for God's sake, Conrad had too many phobias and tics that it was impossible to interact with him and _not_ trip over one of them. And who knows, maybe this way he would be able to answer a few of his questions about vampire physiology.

But for now, he just smiled at Conrad the way that he knew the vampire hated. "Whatever you say love." He allowed, and enjoyed seeing Conrad cringe, and probably would have blushed if he had blood in his system. He huffed and turned away, crossing his arms protectively across his naked chest and looking around the room with scorn.

"So what am I supposed to do about clothes? I'm not wearing any of your disease-infested things." Conrad snipped, glaring at him over those damn glasses. Worth could tell he was reverting back into his usual fussy mannerisms. Probably just a defense mechanism, trying not to freak himself out about spending any amount of time asleep with Worth in such filthy conditions. Worth had caught the glance directed at his stained sheets and mattress, hadn't missed the look of disgust. Stupid fag was worse than the mysophobe vampire hunter.

Worth glared right back at him over his cigarette. "Then ya want to run around my office _naked?_ And run home through the streets _naked_? In the rain?" Conrad got a faintly nauseous look on his face at the thought. "I'll…I'll transform again and…fly back." He finally answered, looking like he wasn't at all pleased at the notion.

Worth knew he was bluffing. It was still raining rather heavily. If he flew, there was a good chance he would get too water-logged to fly, or would get disorientated and lose his way. Or he could always just fall in a puddle and drown. Flying home was not an option.

"Yeh could, yeh could." Worth agreed anyway, just to spite him. "Anything to get you out of my fuckin hair." And there it was, the expression he had been looking for and fully expected not to see. _Hurt_. Connie had felt _hurt _that Worth was kicking him out! That was fuckin hilarious. Looks like the little fag felt something more about him after all.

Pretending he didn't see the hurt look –and the scowl that came to cover it up –Worth stabbed his cigarette out and stood up. He cast a rather dramatic look out the window and heavily sighed in fake dismay over how hard it was raining, which of course made Conrad scowl harder. Moving across the room, he felt pleased about the squawk and flinch away he got when he passed Conrad. Worth picked over the clean clothes pile –or was it dirty? Worth didn't exactly care –and made his choices in pants and shirt from those available. Pulling them on over his sleep-wear –earning another noise of disgust from the vampire, who was gonna have to suck it up, seriously._ He_ was the one who came _here_ –he fished around, deliberately finding his grungiest pair of boxers. These he presented to Conrad, pinched between two fingers. "Make up yer mind princess. Go or stay. But you gotta put these on if ya stay 'ere."

Conrad stared at him for exactly one second of pure _horror_ before he erupted into a rage-fueled rant about how _disgusting_ Worth was being, and how there was no way in hell he would _ever_ put on something as disgusting as Worth's old clothes, and on and on for a bit. Worth reclined against the wall and stopped paying attention, wondering dimly if this was going to soil any of Connie's little fantasies of him. He was willing to bet not. This conclusion wasn't based on anything more than personal experience: when someone loudly protested against something, in bed or in life, chances were they were actually curious and willing to try. The fact that Connie was still here, in his dirty apartment wrapped in his dirty sheets, and hadn't winged off, supported that theory.

Worth watched Conrad rant and rave, a smirk on his face. It was what counted as a happy smile for him. Arguments and problems and all that aside, there had been a man in his bed, and a possibility of him being back there in the future. And that was enough to fill Worth with a terrible sort of glee. And he was also imagining how Conrad would look wearing his coat.

Worth never got to find out, because Conrad was cut off by a voice from the room below.

"Hey Worth, you there? It's Hanna! Where are you?"

_God damn that little fucker to hell and back!_ Worth hoped his face only reflected a _fraction_ of the panic that was showing on Conrad's face. Not joking around anymore, he reaching into the shitty little dresser he possessed and pulled out a still sealed package of boxers. Hey, sometimes his patients needed a change of pants, and it was better to have extras than be, well, unprepared. He threw them in Conrad's face. "I'll deal with Hanna." He snarled as he crossed the room. Reaching the door, he waved his hand over his shoulder. "You…stay or go or whatever. Yer choice." He pulled the door shut behind him and stormed downstairs.

Even though he was already yelling at Hanna, he wondered in the back of his mind if Conrad would be there or not when he got back. Who knew?

~*~So, I _thought _this fic would be over (told myself the same thing after chapter one), but I really want to add another chapter or two. Go on to chapter three –with more Conbat maybe? -, but I also want to re-write chapter one from Conrad's POV. Thoughts? Reviews? Leave both in that little box at the bottom of the page.


	3. Chapter 3

~*~Hey! Look what's been updated! Hooray!  
>Unfortunately this might be it <em>for a while<em> because I'm slave to school and actual academic writing. There may be another chapter or two in this thing's future, including a Conrad POV that needs completion.  
>Musical Muse: My HiNaBN playlist<br>Warnings: Curse bombs away! And blood. And a bunch of my own vampire-based theories that you are free to ignore.  
>Disclaimer: I think you guys have figured out by now that I'm not Tessa. I update more than she does.<p>

~*~Thunderstorm Chapter Three~*~

Dealing with Hanna always left Worth feeling ticked off, no matter what reason the brat came to the office for. Thankfully this time it was just for a needle and thread for his zombie partner, not asking him to put his insides back in his body or make cookies with him. He shoved Hanna out the door and into the storm with minimal amounts of fuss and bother. The stupid little git took Worth's patience for granted, and sometimes needed to be kicked out on his ass, no matter what was wrong with him.

Granted, it was partially Worth's own fault for letting Hanna think he could come to Worth with any problem and expect it to get fixed. He was too damn soft on the kid. He had fixed him up too many times. Let him think he could get away with anything and get put together again. But most importantly, he had gotten too close to the stupid little spaz. Getting too close to people always ended with things turning to shit. _Always._

Worth sat down at his rickety desk for a moment to recover from his Hanna-overload. He fumbled in a drawer for a bottle of whisky as his thoughts once again turned to the partially-naked man in his room.

That there was a perfect example of someone he had gotten too close to, both physically and emotionally. Well, not that last part. _Connie _was the one who had gotten too close to him. What did that idiot expect when he came blundering into his apartment several times a week, a candlelit dinner (especially ironic considering Worth himself could be on the menu as well) and romantic ballads? Kisses and cuddles? Some pathetic excuse of affection that was completely against Worth's usual actions?

He always set himself up to by knocked down by Worth. Every single time. And he just kept coming back for more. And made the joke of calling _him _a masochist. When would he realize that it was never going to change? That Worth wasn't going to stop being who he was for some fag Hanna dragged into his office one day and never learned to stay away? Conrad would have to learn if he couldn't learn to deal with Worth, he wasn't going to get _anything _out of him.

Worth hmm-ed to himself around the lips of the bottle. A none-too-gentle prod at his ancient radio unleashed a stream of announcements related to the storm. It sounded like it was going to last all damn night. So that meant for him that he would have to deal with Conrad _all damn night_. What fun. A last swig of whisky perked him up enough to go back up and deal with the load of vamp-angst waiting for him upstairs. Before he climbed the stairs to his room, he locked the thick metal door that connected him to the outside world. His Number One patient had just completed his visit; Number Two was already upstairs. He had no reason to expect anyone else to stop by. And if they did, well then tough cookies. They could go to a real doctor for once.

It would be too nice of him to knock. Besides, it was his room. Maybe the pisser would have hauled off, although that was unlikely. Worth barged into his room, completely prepared for the flailing and bitching that Conrad would normally supply for him at his intrusion. What met him instead made him laugh his ass off.

Conrad had opted to put on the boxers –thank god –but that wasn't all. He was seated on Worth's grimy mattress swathed entirely in his white coat. The thing was far too big for him (it was big on Worth, but that obviously didn't stop him) so it draped around him like a tent. The dingy fur framed his inhumanly pale face, made all the more paler with…was that fear? A flash of lightening and a crash of thunder confirmed this, as Conrad jumped and hid under the coat like a frightened kid hiding under the covers.

Even Worth laughing at him didn't cause him to snap into his usual tight-ass mannerisms. A half-hearted glare was aimed at him through the fringe of fur before they ducked out of sight again. "Don't you have a ginger to fix up?" he asked, his voice muffled by the coat. He sounded scared and grouchy.

"Naw, the idiot just needed zombie floss." Worth answered as he stomped across the room with a grin of delight. He flopped backwards onto the mattress, deliberately aiming at Conrad. He ended up clipping the vampire's shoulder with his own bony one and landing on a chunk of his own coat. Conrad tried rolling out of the way but was stopped by the pinned garment. He clutched the fabric closer to himself and frowned angrily. "Go away." He whined.

"It's my bed innit?" Worth groused right back as he nonchalantly grabbed his cigarettes from the floor. Conrad grumbled and scrunched as far away from Worth as he could while plucking at the fabric keeping him captive. It was painfully obvious that he was unhappy with the whole situation, but there was nothing he could do about it, short of leaving. He glared with a bit more force at the lit cig in Worth's grip. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to smoke in bed?"

"Didn't yers tell ya not ta fly in a thunderstorm?" Worth snapped back. In fact his mother did tell him that, but just because she told him not to made him deliberately disobey her. Just to spite the bitch. Even though he wasn't a rebellious teenager anymore, old habits die hard. And since Conrad seemed to channel a hyper-overprotective mother most of the time it wasn't so difficult to resort back into his stubborn ways.

A crash of thunder interrupted whatever reaction Conrad might have had. The vampire actually _squeaked _in shock. His head shot back into the collar of fur like a turtle back into his shell. Worth stared at the minutely trembling form next to him. "The hell is wrong with you anyway! Yer not seriously scared by this stupid storm are ya?"

"…so what if I am?" Conrad's pathetic voice answered from the depths of the coat. "Do you have any idea how much worse this is as a vampire? It's louder like this. The lightning hurts my eyes. I can _hear the effing echoes off the buildings_. You have _no fucking clue _what that's like." A red staring eye met Worth's through matted hairs. "I have never been so damned scared _ever _in my fucking life. _Happy!_"

Worth watched Conrad's miniature freakout with amusement. When the vampire was done he snorted a laugh. "Pussy. What the hell are you afraid of anyway? Yer not out there flyin anymore. What's to be scared of?"

"What are you, my psychiatrist?" Damn that bat was sharp. "This is none of your business. As soon as the storm's over I'm going back to my apartment, so I'll be out of your disgusting hair." He shuttered beneath his shrouds, the tense lines of his form showing every sign of wanting to get the fuck away. It was to be expected; Worth could at least guess that Conrad was reacting to the _flight or fight_ psychosis by wanting to run from the source of his discomfort. In this case, the storm and Worth himself. Unfortunately there was no escape from either. He was quite stuck. Thank god he seemed to have quieted down his angst-rant. If Worth had to make a guess, he would guess that Conrad was doing his damned best to ignore his surroundings. Sulking like a baby.

Even if he wasn't the fag's psychiatrist, he still wanted to know what was freaking out the vamp so badly, if only so he could properly torment him about it. Because, seriously, what was his deal? He was inside, now flying out in the elements. There was no physical way for him to be harmed unless it was issued by Worth himself. So what the hell was he afraid of?

A flash of lightning and the immediate accompaniment of thunder proved to be too much for the scared vampire. With a sissy-sounding pop Conrad's form vanished. The folds of Worth's coat slumped down onto the mattress with a tired 'whumph'. A lump revealed where Conbat now huddled, shaking, completely hidden from sight.

Worth regarded the lump with derision. Fucking scaredy-bat. He reached over and poked the mound of cloth with a sharp finger. "So ya just gonna stay like that now? I bet one-a the rats here will eatcha."

A second poke –because he could not resist –earned him a sharp stab of pain in the fleshy pad of his finger, like being stuck with a large needle or pricked by a thorn. Pulling back to examine the wound, Worth realized with a start that Conrad had _actually bitten him_. That fucking snaggletooth had poked a sizable hole in his finger. Worth grinned as he smeared the blood around with his thumb. "Bout time ya bit me ya little fucker. Took ya turnin into a bat for you to get the balls to do it, huh?" He glanced at the pile of coat, but didn't see the bump that indicated where Conbat was hiding. Movement next to his leg drew his gaze downward.

Conbat had crawled out from under the coat and was using the side of Worth's leg to prop himself up. His nose was twitching wildly. He was still shaking slightly, but now his attention and beady little eyes –beneath their stupid little glasses –were fixed solely on Worth's dripping finger. He was hungry, and there was blood in the air. Worth felt a second of 'you've got to be kidding me' before pure morbid curiosity compelled him to extend the finger. "So yer hungry huh?" he muttered, unsure of how sensitive the bat's ears were. And in any rate, Conrad was an animal again. Unpredictable, easily startled. He might choose any moment to go for the jugular. Or the femoral artery. It was closer.

Sharp claws hooked his finger and drew it closer. For such a tiny form Conbat had incredible strength. He regarded the finger for a single moment –as Worth wondered what was running through his batty little mind –before his mouth was on the puncture hole and a tongue was licking up the blood.

There was less pain that Worth had expected. The lingering pain from the initial bite had faded, and all that was left was a peculiar sensation a rough tongue moving across his skin. Conrad wasn't so much sucking his blood as he was licking it away. Slightly frustrated that he wasn't experiencing any of the draining sensations he had expected from a vampire, Worth leaned back and contemplated what was happening to him.

He had been curious about how Conrad would handle the mechanisms of the feeding, but it seemed he had chosen to stay with the single wound rather than bite again. That made sense; why go for the alternate food-obtaining route where there was food right in front of his nose? And he was licking, not sucking. He had never believed the gothic-angsty-romance stories that said blood was drawn through the fangs; that made no damn sense. They weren't hollow like straws. They just made the hole to draw the blood from.

And there also was the proof that Worth had needed for a personal theory of his. No matter how long Conbat licked at the wound, the blood didn't stop flowing, even after several minutes had passed the deadline of time where the flow would stop on its own. Worth had read that certain blood-sucking critters had stuff in the spit to keep blood flow moving into a bite. Critters like leeches… and vampire bats, the real ones, from South America. And it seemed that vampires who could turn into bats fell under that category as well.

Worth's arm was beginning to ache from holding it extended for so long. Not withdrawing his finger from the feeding bat, Worth's other hand approached to cup around the squishy body, like he had earlier that afternoon. Conrad had no reaction to this, so Worth maneuvered his extremities and their captive into a more comfortable position on his lap. Still no reaction from Conrad. How long was he going to feed? Not that Worth was worried about being drained while Conrad was in this form. It obviously wasn't too much blood if it was taking this long for the bat to get full. It was if Conrad were to make a meal of him while in normal form that raised his question. Was the amount that was being taken from him now proportional to the amount that would be taken from him when Conrad was human-sized? Would it be enough to need a blood transfusion afterwards, or did vampires have enough instinct to back off when they knew the human lost too much to function normally?

These were questions that Worth intended to look in to at a later date. Because it seemed that his little feeder had had enough now. With a final hard lick Conbat drew back from his finger, little tongue running over his face to fastidiously clean the last bit of blood off. Worth waited, observing the bat critically. Conrad was definitely calmer. He wasn't jumping at every flash of lightning or crash of thunder. Did the introduction of blood to his system really change things so much? Did it just clam him down, or dampen his fear? And now that he wasn't so freaked out, was he going to change back again? Worth hoped something like that would happen. It was no fun teasing a bat. Especially one that didn't respond.

Abruptly, Conrad stiffened sharply. Worth wondered if he had just made the jump from 'mindless animal' to 'neurotic vampire stuck in a bat's body'. Was he gonna remember the fun this time?

Conbat's slowly turned to look up at Worth. The look on his face confirmed that he was again in control. And utterly and totally disgusted with himself. Yep, he remembered.

"Oh My GOD!" he shrieked –quite shrilly –and jerked out of Worth's lap to fall spread-winged on the bed in a tumbled mess. Worth began laughing again. This was going to be too much fun.

~*~Zombie Floss: Perfect for all your limb-stitching needs!  
>I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tell me what you think!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

~*~Did this chapter take too long in coming _yes._ Should I be working on more productive and important stuff _yes. _Do I care about that other productive stuff _no.  
><em>Musical Muse: Nothing in particular  
>Warnings: Swearing, stalker-y stuff, sexual references, nothing too bad.<br>Disclaimer: I'm not Tessa, and I really miss her.

~*~ Thunderstorm Chapter 4 ~*~

The novelty of having a vampire the size of a Chihuahua stuck in his room quickly wore off.

Worth reclined against his filthy pillows, trying desperately to lose himself in the medical drama he was watching. His occupation didn't offer him a lot of free time, and whenever he got any he spent it catching up on his favorite shows. He really had no clue if the situations presented in the fictional hospitals were legitimate or not, but they were usually entertaining, if not somewhat educational.

But he had run out of his usual favorites to watch, and this new drama was stupid, the plot was boring and totally ridiculous, the main character was insufferable, and Conrad _would not shut up._

After his little drink from Worth, Conrad spent about three minutes absolutely freaking out, then about five minutes telling Worth what a horrible person he was, was silent for about one minute, then started complaining about how apparently he couldn't turn back to human form. Worth stopped paying attention during the first four minutes, but the bat nattering in the background was really distracting. And annoying. And made him want to find a tennis racket.

On top of all these wonderful things, the storm seemed to be getting worse. And every time thunder smashed its way through the room Conrad would squeak and jump. _Every. Damn. Time. _Turns out that the relief provided by blood in the system was only temporary.

For the life of him, Worth couldn't figure out what the damn deal was, and honestly was having a hard time finding enough shits to give about it. So little Connie was scared of thunderstorms; big freaking deal! He was seriously overreacting about the whole thing. There was genuine fear and paranoia, and the reactions that would result from them. And then there were the over-the-top overreactions over the slightest fucking thing that resulted in the constant complaining that Conrad was providing. He had a hard enough time tolerating the former in the first place. Especially when it came from Connie.

Maybe a tennis racket was too kind. He was sure he had a baseball bat or crowbar lying around somewhere…

_CRACK! *ZZZT* _"…_!_"

Worth leaned forward, propped his bony elbows on his thigh, and covered his face with his hands. That made no difference; it was still dark. "The 'lectric went out princess, that's what happened," he snarled, managing to sound pissed off and tired at the same time. Of course this had to happen. The universe seemed to have decided to screw with him tonight, and not in the fun way.

On the plus side, he was no longer listening to that stupid prat on the telly flout his overstuffed ego. On the negative, he was stuck in a dark room with a vampire who was probably afraid of the dark or some stupid ridiculous thing like that. He had no clue where his torch was, or if it even still worked, so he wouldn't be able to read. Short of interacting with the little poof, there was nothing to distract him. And he'd had enough Conrad interaction _for a fucking week_, thank you very much.

Worth pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes, feeling the sweet pain at the front of his skull. He watched the lights spark and swirl behind the lids and wondered when this whole damn affair would end. He'd had his fun, now why the fuck couldn't he be left alone? He liked being alone. Being bored and alone, in his opinion, was better than being bored with another person, because that encouraged small talk. _And he fucking hated small talk_. What the hell would he and Connie have to talk about anyway? His white-blood count and blood sugar levels?

Conrad had been quiet for a while. Had he ever been this quiet before? Worth didn't think so.

"Wassa matter Connie, ya git lost in the dark?" Worth asked to the dark room. No answer. He removed his hands from his face, watching the light seep away and leaving the deep dark behind. It was a rare thing for him to be unable to see. Working late nights and sleeping days tended to limit his interactions with pure darkness itself, even if the things that inhabited it showed up in his office all the time.

"Connie? Where'd ya go?" Thank god his voice only sounded annoyed. Just pissed off, nothing more. Not scared. Not that he was fucking scared. He wasn't scared of the dark or any of its residents, not even when he was younger and the residents could legitimately do him harm. He was just curious where one certain critter had hidden himself.

He really couldn't see a damn thing. No convenient flashes of lightning lit the room, no mysterious lighting sources offered him any scant amount of light. If this was going to turn out like some sort of horror movie, it was a really shitty one. There weren't any scantily-dressed females running around getting their heads chopped off, for a start.

"Alright bat-boy, real funny, now where the fuck 'r ya?" Worth strained his senses. His hearing was already heightened by the dark, so everything he heard was loud and clear. The storm had faded to a lull, and he could hear the pouring rain outside, and a dripping pipe in his own room. He could hear the silence that wasn't usually there, the absence of noise, since the sounds of all electric powered things were gone. He heard his own breath, his heart beating, blood rushing through his veins at an increased rate, racing the adrenaline that was now running through his veins after a revelation that hit him like a slab of concrete.

Conrad was a vampire. Vampires liked the dark. Vampires could fucking see in the dark.

And Worth couldn't.

'Oh shit shit _shit _SHIT' Worth internally gave his own ass a good solid kick. Why the hell hadn't he thought of this happening? He'd only been sitting on his ass all night; he could have been doing something useful, like finding candles and lighters, or getting some stupid-ass vampire back to his own home even if it meant carrying him there in his pocket himself. Anything was better than the total inactivity from before.

Because now he was stuck in the dark, with a vampire who had every reason to hate his guts, and had already demonstrated some serious behavior inconsistency in the last few hours. Vampire mood swings were nothing new, and Worth had seen his fair share, but Conrad had shown he was more unstable even than the dead-eyed fucker Hanna had dragged in before for whatever reason.

Perfect. Just fucking perfect.

Worth released an annoyed splurt of air through his lips. There was no point in keeping quiet; his accelerated heart rate was like a fucking drum in the quiet room. And if Conrad was going to flip out at him he was really taking his damn sweet time about it.

"Yanno, this is really fucking stupid," Worth said to the quiet room. Well, fuck, maybe it was empty. Maybe that stupid bat had gotten tired of hanging around in the dark and had flapped out of his room and back to his own damn apartment.

And as long as he was contemplating shit that would never fucking happen, maybe he'd get his medical license and move back to Australia. Yeah.

He waited a few moments, wondering what would happen next. Getting off his ass and finding light sounded like a great plan, but he didn't want to step on something small, red, and squishy. Well, not on accidentally anyway.

Lightning suddenly lit the room with an almost audible sizzle, and Worth realized that he didn't have to worry about accidentally stepping on Conrad. He now knew exactly where he was.

He was exactly three inches from his nose.

Worth's heart tried to evacuate his body as the room shook in the blackness again. He tried to halt the shiver doing laps up and down his spine, but the damn thing was on a roll now. How long had Conrad been sitting there, in the dark, back in human form, just _staring _at him? It was just flat unnerving. Maybe _some_ lunatic souls got off having someone stare at their helpless figure in the dark, _but not him damnit!_ This was seriously crossing the fucking line. He liked popping other people's personal bubbles, not having his own popped.

So how to proceed? Somehow, reaching out and punching Conrad in the nose just didn't seem like a good idea. He found himself unconsciously leaning back from his hunched position, and knew without knowing that Conrad was leaning forward, following him. Now that he knew where the vampire was, he could fucking _feel_ him in the air in front of him, even though he wasn't breathing or making any sort of noise. He felt the bed on either side of him depress, and imagined pale white hands bracing themselves next to his hips.

"Connie?" His voice creaked, so he cleared his throat and tried for the soothing tone from earlier this afternoon. "What're ya doing?" He stared sightlessly at the black in front of him, wondering where Conrad's eyes were. Was Conrad looking him in the face, or was he looking at something else, like his heart or his neck?

The situation was out of his control. He hated that. When the situation was again under his control he was going to kick Connie's ass, no doubt. No one creeped on him in his own home. However much he was actually starting to like it.

"This is…" Worth twitched at the words spoken somewhere in the vicinity of his left ear. _Really close to his skin_. Conrad could only be an inch or so away. Totally invading Worth's personal space. He didn't move his head, because there was no way he could face Conrad and not touch him. Somehow, he didn't think that would be the right way out of the situation. He stayed perfectly still, barely even breathing. He couldn't even respond to Conrad's fragment at all. Air brushed over his skin behind his ear, and goose bumps rose. "…incredible. Like I can see your heartbeat. I can smell blood moving under your skin. It's really incredible…" Air moved next to him again, and Worth came to the rather unnerving conclusion that Conrad was sniffing him. Creep. But he found himself smirking anyway. Connie sounded so fucking fascinated, so mesmerized.

But why? He shouldn't be hungry, he'd just fed on him half an hour ago. Granted, he was a tenth the size he was now, but it was his own damn fault for not picking a form and sticking with it. And if Connie wanted munchies, why didn't he just go for them? It wasn't like Worth could stop him.

He better not ask for permission. Because as kinky and sorta-arousing this situation was, Worth was pretty sure he'd kill the mood by laughing his ass off.

A light noise came from next to his ear, and it took a few seconds for him to realize Conrad was snickering at him. "Am I scaring you Worth?" Worth's mouth fell open to deny and protest, but froze instantly when Connie licked his face.

_Conrad licked his face!_

Okay, forget scared. Forget annoyed, forget creeped, forget everything. Everything flew out the window as that cold wet muscle that dragged up his cheek. Worth's eyes slipped shut as he sucked a deep breath in an effort to keep calm. Because he was now very excited. Damn that fucker to hell and back, he knew exactly what he was doing to him. Vampire instincts and all that shit. Fuck, he was probably enjoying this as much as Worth was.

But before Worth could grab him and do…_something_, he felt the bed shift under him and _knew _Conrad had moved away. _Stupid fucking son-of-a-_

"You know, I thought you'd get pissed at that, but you liked that didn't you?" Conrad's smug voice came from what sounded like a foot away from him, and Worth experienced a completely different type of feeling in his gut. The stupid fucker _had _planned this. Got him all worked up and then just left him hanging. Revenge against Worth's earlier antics, probably. Worth leveled his best glare at the unseen entity. It was a mostly angry glare, but there was plenty of unresolved sexual tension thrown in for color.

"Watch it Fagula. Ya don't wanna be tryin that shit unless ya can handle what'll happen." Worth wondered _how much_ Conrad knew what he was _actually_ doing, or if he was still in the experimental stage. Had he ever tried this on anyone else? And why was that thought such a problem for him to think? He felt the mattress in front of him depress, and imagined the vampire settling down to stare at him some more.

"And just what'll happen, hmm?" _Oh, fuck that smug bastard to hell and back_, he was all cocky and sure of himself _now,_ since he was obviously in the superior position. He didn't even sound scared of the storm anymore, even though it was still raging around them. Lightening occasionally lit the room, giving Worth proof that yes, Conrad was in fact sitting in front of him looking well pleased. And naked. He was still as naked as he had been when he woke up with Worth earlier.

Worth folded his arms over his chest, not for feeble protection, _damnit_, but to show he was cross. "Ya don't wanna know sweetheart," he countered, while desperately trying to think of what would happen. If Conrad lunged at him and tried to have a bite, well, Worth could see himself encouraging that behavior. He would probably also encourage anything else Conrad would attempt, if he tried anything else.

But he was damned if he made the first move.

~*~ Thanks for reading and please review!


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